TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan modernist poet Ya Hsien (瘂弦) passed away at 92 on Saturday (Oct. 12) in Vancouver.
Ya Hsien, whose real name was Wang Ching-lin (王慶麟), was born in 1932 in Nanyang, Henan, per CNA. He joined the military when he was young during great turmoil in China and came to Taiwan with the retreating Kuomintang, per TVBS.
After graduating from Fu Hsing Kang College’s Film and Drama Department, Ya Hsien served in the Navy. He later earned a master’s degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin.
In 1954, Ya Hsien, along with poets Luo Fu (洛夫) and Chang Mo (張默), founded “Epoch Poetry Society” in Kaohsiung and published “Epoch Poetry Quarterly,” which sparked a new wave of poetry in the 1950s. The magazine advocated surrealism and educated younger generations in literature.
Ya Hsien dedicated nearly 40 years to editorial work, organized awards to encourage submissions from Chinese language writers worldwide, and nurtured many literary talents. After retiring, he moved to Vancouver and was awarded the Taipei Culture Award in 2023.
